Mass Spectrometry / Proteomics Facility

The University of Wisconsin Biotechnology Center has acquired several mass spectrometers for the analysis of biomolecules, including proteins, peptides, oligonucleotides, oligosaccharides and other small organic and inorganic molecules. In addition to measuring the molecular weight of compounds, the instruments are designed to perform MS/MS so that the structure of a selected ion can be deduced from the fragments. This is particularly useful for peptide sequencing and post-translational modification mapping. The ESI-MS are equipped with HPLC systems which are used with reversed phase (RP) nanobore / capillary columns, for LC/MS/MS experiments.

We also have an LC-MALDI spotter for combining separations with MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis. LC/MS/MS is extremely useful for quantitation of known compounds and for the rapid screening of a mixture to identify the components of interest. We also perform proteolytic digestions of proteins, which can be further analyzed by HPLC, MS, LC/MS and MS/MS for peptide mapping and peptide sequencing.

Equipment in the facility was purchased with funds from the University of Wisconsin, the National Institutes of Health (P50 GM64598, R33 DK070297),and the National Science Foundation (DBI-0520825, DBI-9977525)